Aboriginal artefacts withdrawn from auction

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Auction house Lawson-Menzies has agreed to withdraw six
Aboriginal artefacts from an indigenous art auction in Sydney
tonight, following claims that the items were "secret and
sacred".

The items - six wooden boards used in indigenous ceremonies in
Arnhem land and Central Australia - were due to be part of an
auction of more than 300 indigenous art works that is expected to
reap between $5.5 million and $6.8 million.

They were taken off the market by Lawson-Menzies' indigenous art
expert Adrian Newstead this morning following strong objections
from the National Association for the Visual Arts.

The association claimed, on the basis of advice from its expert
reference group and the central land council, that the artefacts
were used in sacred ceremonies and thus subject to Aboriginal
customary law.

It has called for them to be returned to the communities they
came from.

Mr Newstead said that, while he had agreed take the items off
the auction room floor, he did not believe that they had "any
special significance".

"No traditional custodian has come forward to claim these items
and we've had no complaints from them informing us that these item
are secret or sacred," Mr Newstead said.

"They are simply going to go back to the private owners - I
don't believe that any of the traditional communities will claim
them. This is political correctness gone mad."

Mr Newstead has refused to remove a ceremonial bull roarer -
also believed to be culturally significant - from tonight's
auction, a move that has enraged the association.

The association's executive director, Tamara Winikoff, said that
the item should be repatriated and that Mr Newstead had failed to
seek any advice on the item.

"We have been informed by a number of experts that the bull
roarer, along with the ceremonial boards, are secret and sacred and
should not be sold," Ms Winikoff said.

"Mr Newstead's opinion is the opinion of someone seeking to sell
these items. He is not an independent expert and should not be seen
as such."